Referees who officiate heavy contact sports consistently place themselves in danger of being injured by the players. These injuries run the gamut from contusions to serious injuries like concussions, neck and/or back injuries, etc. Notably, the players are generally armed with like concussions, neck and/or back injuries, etc. Notably, the players are generally armed with significant protective gear for their bodies and/or head, yet the referees for the most part, do not wear any protective gear. To mitigate field injuries, some referees carefully position themselves in certain locations to avoid and/or minimize physical contact with the players. However, in order to be effective, referees need unrestricted movements to view all the plays, fouls, players' disorderly conduct on or off the field, etc., in order to make their rulings. Thus, there is a need for an apparatus, system and method for protecting referees located on or off the field or court, from head injuries in a manner that does not restrict their movements or impair their ability to referee a game.
Refereeing is often restricted by the referees' inability to capitalize on technological advancements in the electronics and communications field as the methods of making rulings in sports, such as baseball and football, still rely heavily on the referee's sensory perception, such as sight and sound. This has proven to be an inexact science, and so more and more referees are using replay technology to make rulings on the field, or to review rulings that have already been made. However, replay technology as it currently exists is inefficient, since it requires additional time for the referees to convene, approach a viewing booth, view the replay, and to decide on a new ruling, or whether a prior ruling on the field will stand. Thus, there is a need for more efficient system and methods for making rulings on sports fields as the prior art have thus far proven to be unreliable and inefficient.
Accordingly, the various embodiments and disclosures described herein satisfies these long felt needs and solves the limitations of the prior art in a new and novel manner.